FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2004
Contact: Josh Freed
(202) 225-4431

DENVER, CO – The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCRC), one of the nation’s pre-eminent civil rights organizations, gave Democratic Floor Whip Diana DeGette (CO-01) a 100 percent rating for her votes on civil liberties and civil rights issues for the 2003. Rep. DeGette was the only member of the Colorado delegation to receive a perfect score on issues the organization rated as important for the first session of the 108th Congress.

“I am proud to stand with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in the fight to protect the freedoms of all Americans and honored to have received a perfect rating from them in 2003,” said Rep. DeGette. “Working families of all races are being harmed by a Republican-controlled Congress that consistently chooses the interests of a select elite over the needs of the vast majority of Americans.”

The LCRC awarded Rep. DeGette a 100 percent score for her support of their positions on the critical civil rights votes in Congress in 2003. Rep. DeGette supported proposals to provide low-income workers with a $400 child tax credit and protect religious freedom by prohibiting organizations receiving federal funding from discriminating against job applicants of different faiths. She also voted to expand defendants’ access DNA testing where it can help expose wrongful conviction.

The Congresswoman led efforts to defeat several Republican proposals to slash taxes for very wealthy, including repeal of the estate tax and a budget that included $1.3 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years.

“One of the most important civil rights battles we face today is to insure that everyone has the opportunity to become economically secure,” said Rep. DeGette. “This means the opportunity to have a job, have health insurance and have an education. These are the Main Street values that the Leadership Council on Civil Rights and I fought for in 2003 and will continue fight for this year and beyond.”

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